Sue's birthday trip to Llangollen, day one.

It was Sue's birthday on December first, so as a surprise, I booked a lovely little B&B by the river Dee in Llangollen, with the idea of doing some big walks in the area. That was until I popped my cartilage out on Arran!

Anyway, despite that, we went ahead with the trip and stayed at the LOVELY 'Cornerstones' right in the centre of town. We had also booked to go to a Michelin starred restaurant called 'Tyddyn Llan', but the snow had other ideas on that one! You can see what we missed here; http://www.tyddynllan.co.uk/restaurant.html

Our hostess had JUST finished decorating the place for Christmas, and she made a lovely job of it too.

She even left a decanter with some port for a little aperitif for us.

As soon as we had settled in, we walked (well, more a sort of limping hobble for me) around Llangollen. This is the view upriver of the Dee, our B&B is on the right, just beyond that white hotel.

Reminds me of that joke;

I caught a bus, and said to the conductor; "do you stop at the royal?".

He said; "What, on MY wages!!!"

The view upstream, with the railway line and station, unfortunately closed until the Santa specials later in December, but the cafe was open, so we had a walk around the platform.

Castel Dinas Bran. My Dad used to point this out to us as we came into Llangollen on our way to our holiday destination, Anglesey. It was always an aspiration of mine to climb up to it, and I realised that when I walked Offa's Dyke in 1992. It was a very poignant moment as, by then, my Dad has passed away. You can read about my Offa's dyke trip here;

http://walkdiaries.blogspot.com/2006/07/offas-diary.html 

I went up to Dinas Bran on 26th. Sorry there are not many photo's in there, but this was before digital!

We'd read about 'Plas Newydd' all around Llangollen. It was bought by two aristocratic 'ladies of Llangollen' (as they were known). It's really strange, as they were quite a feted couple, having visits from some very important and influential people of the time, but reading between the lines, one was almost a paedophile, and both were lesbians - two VERY shady things in those times! Read all about the 'ladies' here, and make up your own mind;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladies_of_Llangollen

The superb dovecote - those doves were spoilt!

The main frontage of the house. The 'ladies' didn't have all this fancy woodwork done, later owners did that. The back of the house is just a plain, white wall.

The front is EXTREMELY impressive though!

This must be the best, and most 'Gothic' type porch EVER.

This would frighten small children.

A hell of a lot of work went into the carvings.

Strange, quite striking words above the porch.

Icicles and berries.

Back in town now, and time for a trip to the railway station.

"ALL ABOARD FOR BAKEWELL!!"

The river, from the platform of Llangollen station.

Looking across to 'The Corn Mill', quite a good restaurant, but one we didn't go to, as there didn't seem to be much atmosphere. Sue has eaten there in the past, but it was while it was 'buzzing' in the Summer, and you could sit out on the wooden balcony (right) to take in the warm evening.

We were lucky in having a very good bistro/wine bar opposite 'Cornerstones' called 'Gales'. http://www.galesofllangollen.co.uk/winebar.htm 

There was a shop, hotel and bistro. The food in the bistro was super, and the menu changed daily, so we went every night, and can wholly recommend it.

That's all for this posting, but more to follow soon, when we walk along the canal (yes - I managed to do about 3 miles, wearing a leg brace) and walk over the Pontncysyllte viaduct.

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Arran re-visited, final part

Here we go - the last pics from our Arran trip. As I said, I was now a cripple, unable to walk with a very swollen and painful knee! We decided to do a round-island exploration today, and just LOOK how nice the weather was! This is the lovely cottage we stayed in, details here; www.glenbank.com

I have to say, it was really lovely. The perfect location, warm, comfortable and the owners are just SO friendly. The welcome pack is great. I think we'll be returning to Glenbank in the future!

This is Corrie harbour, right outside the door. I think I've already mentioned that Marvin, one of the owners of the cottage, did the figurehead for the boat (on the front). You can see his super work here;

http://www.sculptorcarver.com/

A calming view across Brodick bay.

Holy island, taken by Sue, from Lamlash bay.

One of our favourite views - the sentinel which is Ailsa Craig, with Pladda island on the right.

(Sighhhhh) Lovely Ailsa.

A view of the two through a sculpture at Kildonan hotel.

The Kildonan sculptures. There is a 'roof' on these during Summer, but the winter sees it taken off and locked away from the wrath of the gales that lash the coast.

Looking inland across the gentler countryside of Arran, on our way to Blackwaterfoot.

A zoomed view of the mountains of Beinn Bharrain range

Looking across the bay to the 'twelve Apostles', used to house ousted farmers during the clearances.

As we passed Lochranza youth hostel we saw this deer, nonchalantly grazing in the garden, oblivious to us only yards away, taking pictures.

Next stop was the famous butchers in Lochranza, where we bought two lovely venison steaks for dinner. Of course, you need a good whisky to wash it down, so we also called at the Arran distillery to get one.

http://www.arranwhisky.com/Home/

I mentioned 'The Bastion' in my last set of pictures, here it is!

Notice how different and MUCH more imposing it looks from this angle?

We arrived back at the cottage with the weather picking up, and severe warnings on the TV and radio. A bit worrying, as we were due to get the ferry back in the morning. The way things looked, it would be touch and go! It was really rough during the night, with the wind rattling tree branches against the cottage roof and howling round the building all night. The next morning, it had calmed a little, but the drive to the ferry showed just how nasty it had been during the night. The sea had ripped up sections of the road, torn down railings and strewn boulders and pebbles, seaweed etc all over the roads. One old resident said he'd NEVER seen it like this before! This is a (bad) picture taken through the car windscreen on our way to the ferry.

The night ferry had been cancelled, but we were assured the morning one, on which we were due, would sail. Sail it did, and to be honest, the crossing was about the same as the one over, maybe a little rougher. Standing on deck was a bit difficult, as the wind was screaming round the ship but I got this shot.

That was it, all that was left was the six hour drive home, which we did without incident.

Arran is a fantastic place, and I would say anyone would enjoy it, it's just got so MUCH going for it. Of course, like most of Scotland, particularly the west, I would avoid the 'midge season', which is the Summer months - usually June to September.

Arran re-visited, part five

Well, this was the last day we walked (Saturday). The day broke like this, a bit angry-looking, but with promise. I had to nip into Brodick before we left, and I got this lovely shot of Holy Island on the way.

Goat Fell looked pretty impressive too with the sun on it. The sea was nice and calm too, but that was to change dramatically soon!

With the weather still fair, we set off for North Glen Sannox. The burn was, understandably, in full spate and made for good pictures. The first part of this walk was really pleasant and easy, with a good path underfoot. It REALLY lifted our spirits to be walking in fair weather for a change.

Many, many waterfalls were seen in the walk up this Glen, we particularly earmarked this one as a fab' place to skinny dip (but not today - BRRRRR!)

We climbed higher and higher up the glen, the path getting thinner and less easy, but we pressed on, enjoying the atmosphere. Ahead, we saw the drawing witches step. This place was pulling at us, as we wanted badly to 'do' it, but weather and time had so far prevented us. We kept looking at it today though, and thinking; so near.......so near.

This waterfall was thundering, as the burn was squeezed into a thin chasm and was bursting through it.

The path now deteriorated, and was pretty hard going at times, and VERY wet underfoot.

That ridge though, it WAS close. Could we get up there? Would we have time?

Here's the answer, we decided to go for it! This photo doesn't really do justice to how steep the climb up to the ridge was, but I think Sue's posture helps to show it.

NOW it looks steep, but even though Sue was a bit below par with the start of a cold, she was game to press on to the top. We were already watching the clock, and although we could see the witches step very near, I estimated it would take at least an hour to get to it and come back (as come back, we had to) to walk the ridge back towards the car.

We arrived at the top, breathless with exertion and amazement at the views. Although there was a little low cloud and mist, these were still the best views so far on this holiday. This is the view from Coirre Fhearghas, across Glen Sannox (where we'd been a couple of days previous) to Cioch na h-Oige, The Bastion. Viewed from the road, this mountain looks fearsome, and looks like it's a stand-alone thing, but from here, you can see the connecting ridge.

The view forward, now getting a bit murky, to Suidhe Fhearghas, where the path drops down. I said to Sue that if we could maintain about 2 KPH, that would see us with time to get down before dark. Not a hard pace, but we didn't realise how difficult the path down would be, and how much it would slow our pace.

A longing look back to the witches step. If only...........

On the left, you can see the saddle, where we were yesterday.

Here's a better view of it, and the ridge (left) to North Goat Fell.

Looking down into Glen Sannox. We followed that burn all the way up to the chimney, from where we retreated a couple of days ago.

Coming to the end of the ridge, with lower Glen Sannox in full view now, and the sea beyond.

A look back to the saddle, and murky weather closing in on us.

Me at the summit of the ridge. After this, we made the hard descent to the car. There was a lot of rough ground at the end and I trod awkwardly, and 'popped' out my cartilage! Luckily, we were only about 100 yards from the car, as it would have been a rescue job otherwise. I couldn't walk, but managed to hop the final bit. JUST after we reached the car, the heavens opened, and the rain LASHED down. How glad was I that we weren't stuck up there with a bad leg???

I couldn't put any weight on my leg for a few days after that, and even now, I can't walk fully. It will be a long process, as the knee is really swollen, but I'll work it back to full strength and be walking again soon. Luckily, driving wasn't a problem, just walking.

As we had one day left on Arran, but I couldn't walk, we decided to do a round-island drive - something we'd been wanting and meaning to do. Now, it was the only choice. Thank goodness I did my leg on the next to last day, and not at the beginning of the holiday! There are just a few more pics of that drive, which ironically was probably the best day we'd had, weather-wise! I'll post those next.

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